Young German rises thanks to Benelux victory while the top men sit it out
Victory in last week’s Eneco Tour has lifted HTC-Columbia’s Tony Martin into the top twenty of the International Cycling Union (UCI) World Ranking for the first time this season. The 25-year-old German received 110 points for his win in the Benelux tour, raising his total to 179; he rises 42 places, from 62nd to 20th, knocking Criterium du Dauphiné winner Janez Brajkovic (RadioShack) down to 21st.
The other big mover after the Eneco Tour is third place finisher Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky). The Norwegian jumps from 46th to 23rd with the 78 points he earned during the race; Eneco second place finisher Koos Moerenhout (Rabobank) enters the rankings at number 50.
The only one of the rest of the top twenty involved in any results in the Eneco Tour was André Greipel (HTC-Columbia). The 12 points he earned with his two stage wins help him to rise from 1Xth to 16th place, overtaking Michele Scarponi (Androni Giocattoli) and Giro d’Italia winner Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Doimo) in the process.
With no one inside the top 15 scoring any points at all, tour de France winner Alberto Contador (Astana) continues to lead the classification, ahead of Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) and World champion Cadel Evans (BMC Racing).
Rabobank and HTC-Columbia on the rise as nations remain static
With Martin and Moerenhout scoring highly at the Eneco Tour, their teams do likewise. Rabobank moves up from fourth to third and HTC-Columbia moves up from fifth to fourth; both rise at the expense of Katusha, whish slips from third to fifth.
The only noticeable movement at the top of the national rankings table is the increase in points for Australia, courtesy of Richie Porte (Saxo Bank) finishing fourth in the Eneco Tour. The southern hemisphere country is now just four points behind Belgium.
The next event to count towards the World Rankings is the Vuelta a España, which started on Saturday. Once the race is over in three weeks time there might well be more significant movement towards the top of the classification.
UCI World Ranking @ 30 August 2010
1. Alberto Contador (Spa) Team Astana 482pts
2. Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha 428
3. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 390
4. Luis Leo Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 363
5. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) OmegaPharma-Lotto 304
6. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Team Astana 283
7. Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 258
8. Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Transitions 251
9. Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank 250
10. Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 239
…
20. Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Columbia 179
23. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Sky 168
Team Ranking
1. Team Astana (Kaz) 980pts
2. Team Saxo Bank (Den) 851
3. Rabobank (Ned) 768
4. HTC-Columbia (USA) 765
5. Team Katusha (Rus) 750
Country Ranking
1. Spain 1644
2. Italy 856
3. Belgium 849
4. Australia 845
5. United States 708